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COMPLIMENTS OF GEO. SAVAGE. 

iR pRBFReRiariri 



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THE BARON DeKALB. 



ADDRESS 



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DEMVERED BY 



G-EOisa-E S.^^r.i5^a-E IEsq.. 



BEFORE THE 



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UNITED GERMAN SINGERS OF BALTIMORE. 

Mugust 12th, IBBB. 

POE)M 

COMPOSED BY 

JOHN STRAUBENMUELLERofNewYork, 

AND RECITED BY 

WILLIAM ECKHARDT Esq, 



b altimor e: 

From the Press of James Yodng, 

No. U4 South Street. 

1886. 



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^^-''^^^ (S^-"^ — ** 



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iR m.EmoRiQm, 



THE BARON DeKALB, 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BY 



G-EOISOE S.iL.'V.i^a-E IBSQ- 



BEFORE THE 



UNITED GERMAN SINGERS OF BALTIMORE. 

Mugust 12th, IBBB. 



POE)M 



COMPOSED BY 

JOHN STRAUBENMUELLER OF New York, 



AND RECITED BY 



WILLIAM ECKHARDT Esq. 



baltimore: 

From the Press of James Young, 

No. 56 South street. 

1886. 



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-^ 



eORRESPONDENCE. 



Baltimore. July 14, 1886, 

GEORGE SAVAGE. Esq. 

Dear Sir: 

The United German Singers of Baltimore will, 

on the 12th of next month, hold, in the hall of the Germania 
Maennerchor Society in this City, a celebration in memory of the 
Baron DeKalb, and we take pleasure in cordially inviting you, in 
their name, to deliver an address on that occasion. 

Your well known interest in whatever concerns American citi- 
zens of German birth leads us to believe that you will heartily 
unite with us in honoring a hero of the Revolution. 
With high regard, we are. 

Very Respectfully Yours, 

JOHN HOFFMEISTER, Chairman. 
Of The Germania Mannerchor. 
OTTMAH MERGENTHALER, 

Of The Ballimore Liederkranz. 
HERMAN BAAKE, 
Of The A7-ion. 
ROBERT D. BOSS, 

Of The Baltimore Liedertafel. 
A. BRUNIER, 

Of The Frohsinn. 
E. KOESTER, 

Of The Arbeiter Liedertafel. 
ANTON REICH, 
, Of Tlie East Baltimore Liedertafel^ 

JACOB KLEIN, 
WM. ECKHARDT, 

Of The Germania Mannerchor. 
HENRY THOMAS, Secretary. 

Of The Barmonie. 
FRED. SCHEIDT, 

Of The Arbeiter Mannerchor. 



BALTIMORE. July 17, 1886. 

MESSRS. JOHN HOFFMEISTER (Chairman), 

OTTMAR MERGENTHALER, HERMAN BAAKE, 
ROBERT D. BOSS and others. 

Gentlemen : 

I am in receipt of your complimentary invitation 

to address the United German Singers of Baltimore on the occa- 
sion of a celebration to be held by them in memory of the Baron 
DeKalb, and I accept it with pleasure. I hope I may be able to 
recall to all Americans who may be present the rare nobility of 
life and character which the heroic DeKalb illustrated to his last 
hour. I am, Gentlemen, 

Very Truly Yours. 

GEO. SAVAGE. 



.i^HDIDI^ESS. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is patriotic, instructive and inspiring to recall our coun- 
try's heroic past and to review the lives, the characters and 
the services of the heroes who have illustrated, bj their valor 
and self-abnegation, the proudest pages of American history. 
We owe to the memories of all who fell in the long and des- 
perate struggle of the Colonies for Independence the sacred 
duty of repeating and perpetuating the story of their sacri- 
fices and achievements and commemorating their love of 
liberty. Though more than a century has rolled over their 
graves their examples, written in blood and consecrated by 
death, remain to guide, encourage and inspire us and those 
who will come after us. It is not enough that enduring 
memorials should attest our gratitude ; we should tell again 
and again to each other and to mankind how they labored, 
fought and died that this nation might exist and that the 
inestimable blessings of free government might be the price- 
less heritage of this great people. 

I would now direct your attention to a conspicuous and 
highly admirable soldier who gave his all in that most impor- 
tant and eventful war for self-government which began amid 
many and darkest clouds, and was continued for seven years 
with varying success, but ended, at last, in glorious victory at 
Yorktown, and was fitly closed with the exultant words of 
Washington: "It is done, and it is well done I" Let us 
pause to note that the limits of the application of the prin- 
ciples of self-government first asserted and successfully defend- 
ed by the American Colonies, and for which DeKalb died, 
have not yet been reached, that at this time the British Par- 
liament and public are deeply agitated by their discussion, and 



that a vast number of the suffragists of Great Britain, fol- 
lowing the lead of her foremost statesman, Mr. Gladstone, 
deliberately and with deep earnestness reassert them. 

I have been highly honored by your invitation to address 
you, and I join heartily with you in paying a well deserved 
tribute to the memory of John Kalb who is better known as 
the Baron DeKalb. Neither the time kindly allotted to me nor 
even your generous patience will permit a presentation of 
the many interesting facts of his life, and my object will 
have been accomplished if, happily, I succeed in outlining 
the most prominent in sufficiently bold relief. I come not to 
unduly praise him ; it would be presumption to attempt to 
add to the laurel-wreath which encircles his brow. He was a 
German. Let that fact be remembered not only with heart- 
felt pride by all who have German blood in their veins and 
who are among us and of us, but by all who honor the noblest 
qualities and are grateful to the soldiers of the Revolution, and 
especially to those who, though foreign-born, gave their lives in 
support of the Revolutionary cause. He was born on the 29th 
of June, 1721, at Huettendorf, now embraced in the Bavarian 
District of Erlangen. His father was John Leonard Kalb, 
son of Hans Kalb, yeoman, of Leimburg, near Altdorf, and 
is mentioned in the church records of the parish of Frauen- 
aurach as " sojourner and peasant of Huettendorf." His 
mother was Margaret Seitz, whose birthplace was Eschen- 
bach. He was the second of three sons and received his 
earliest schooling at Kriegenbronn. It is to be regretted that 
of the boyhood and early manhood of DeKalb no records 
exist. The story of his early ambitions, trials and struggles 
will never be told ; but we know that his pathway was a 
rugged one ; that he was compelled to wring from the reluc- 
tant hand of fortune all that he gained ; and "that he owed 
everything to his exertions, character and talents. How con- 
sonant with the opinion of highest merit which prevails in this 
land is the subject of my eulogy to-night ! In the truest sense 
he was self-made. " The accident of birth " was against him, 
but steadfastly relying on his own heart, and hand, and head, 
he carved his way from poverty and obscurity to power and 



fame. Well may the youth of America seek to emulate him ! 
His early life was more or less adventurous, but he must have 
borne himself well, for at the as^e of twenty-three he became 
a lieutenant in the famous Loewendal regiment of French 
infantry, a corps which though enlisted under French colors 
was officered almost exclusively by German noblemen. It 
has been alleged against him that he was a soldier of for- 
tune, but in the language of his most faithful and discrim- 
inating biographer, " throughout the last century more than 
at any other time the line of distinction between an ad- 
venturer and a hero was very dim, often scarcely discerni- 
ble, and the antecedents of many a man who at a sub- 
sequent stage of his career scaled the heights of fame 
were checkered with alternate displays of either charac- 
ter." In France he accepted the title of the Baron DeKalb. 
In the language of another, " regarding this step in the light 
of his time it cannot be judged too mildly. The title of 
nobility was simply the password which unlocked the world to 
him, the indispensable starting point for all future operations; 
one more scruple on his part and the world would probably 
have gained a sturdy yeoman but lost a hero!" Let it not 
be a matter of surprise that DeKalb entered the military 
service of France; it was the goal of the ambition of many 
of the best and bravest at that period. His native land 
afforded him no opportunity for distinction; the absolutism 
which prevailed there would have subjected him to the iron 
will of the ruler of a petty State and he would have been 
treated as a plebeian. France offered every inducement to 
men of his stamp. Marshal Saxe, one of the greatest military 
leaders of his day and a German by birth, had risen to the 
command of the French army, and it was well known that 
the Bourbon Kings were partial to the foreign-born officers who 
served them faithfully. History records that in 1748 the for- 
eign troops, who followed the fleurs de lys of King Louis the 
15th, numbered 52,315, that among them were nineteen Ger- 
man infantry battalions with 525 officers and 17,601: of the rank 
and file and three regiments of cavalry numbering 78 officers 
and 1410 troopers; and that, in addition, thousands of Ger- 



8 

mans were in the thirteen Swiss regiments of the French 
army. As late as 1776 the Germans in the army of France 
comprised eight regiments of foot with 448 officers and 12,032 
privates and three cavalry regiments numbering 96 officers 
and 2,520 men. I rejoice with you that to-day the world 
sees, with admiration and fear, that Germans are all for their 
Fatherland ! 

The occasion will not admit of more than a brief mention 
of the military services rendered by DeKalb to his adopted 
country. They were distinguished and valuable. In the 
war declared by France in 1744 against Great Britain and 
Austria he showed such personal bravery, endurance and 
energy, united to aptitude for the profession of arms, and so 
occupied all his leisure in study, principally of the modern 
languages and the higher branches of mathematics and the 
internal organization of troops, that he soon attracted the at- 
tention of his superiors. He was promoted rapidly and was 
assigned to posts of importance. In less than four years he 
was made a captain and adjutant and was charged with the 
responsible duties of an officer of detail. He was noted also 
for his executive ability and humanity. In the Seven Years' 
War DeKalb actively participated on the side of the French 
with the Loewendal regiment which was conspicuous for its 
gallantry, and especially at Kossback where Frederick the 
Great gained a decisive victory, DeKalb won during 
that time the lasting friendship of the Due DeBroglie, one 
of the ablest of the generals of France and who Jomini de- 
cla,red was the only French general engaged in the Seven 
Years' War who was capable on all occasions. In 1760 he 
was appointed by Marshal Dnc DeBroglie assistant quarter- 
master general with the Army of the Upper Rhine, and in 
1761 he was made a lieutenant colonel. I cannot follow him 
step by step, but DeKalb displayed accomplishments of such 
a high order that he was selected, without consultation with 
him, by the Due DeChoiseul, then at the head of the direc- 
tion of the French Government and who has been truly 
called " one of the greatest if not the greatest French states- 
men since the days of Richelieu," to visit this country on a 



secret mission. The farsighted and alert French minister 
was determined to be prepared for the war between the Colo- 
nies and the mother country which lie foresaw and to avail 
himself of the opportunities it would afford France to humble 
England. DeKalb was at first averse to the service. But 
the Due DeChoiseul insisted, and added : " Do not decline 
the mission with which I have entrusted you ; I know it is 
diflScult and requires great sagacity. But I have fixed my 
choice on you after much deliberation. Ask of me the means 
which you think necessary for its execution ; I will furnish 
you with them all." DeKalb was instructed to inquire into 
the intentions of the Colonists ; to ascertain their need of 
good engineers and artillery officers or other individuals, and 
whether they should be supplied with them; to inform him- 
self of their facilities for procuring supplies and their ability 
to procure munitions of war and provisions ; to acquaint 
himself with the greater or lesser strength of their purpose 
to withdraw from the English Government ; to examine their 
resources in troops, fortified places and forts ; and to seek to 
discover their plan of revolt and the leaders who were ex- 
pected to direct and control it ; and the Due DeChoiseul 
added : " Great reliance is placed in the intelligence and ad- 
dress of Monsieur DeKalb in the pursuit of a mission requir- 
ing an uncommon degree of tact and shrewdness." I well 
know that you will welcome the insight into the private life 
of DeKalb as a most aifectionate husband and father which is 
afforded by the concluding sentence of his letter to DeChoiseul, 
written from London in 1767, on the eve of his departure for 
Philadelphia. He wrote: "In conclusion, Monseigneur, I 
would recall to your mind the promises kindly made me on 
my departure from France, beseeching you to be a father and 
protector to my wife and children if it should be written in 
the book of fate that the journey upon which I am setting 
out should lead directly to my final resting place." Truly 
wrote Bayard Taylor : 

The bravest are tlie tenderest, 
The loving are the daring. 

It would be very profitable to recall the state of feeling 



10 

here at that time and to give lengthy extracts from DeKalb's 
reports, but I can only say that they were remarkable for their 
calmness, accuracy and fullness and the foresight shown by 
their author. Let me delay you with a few lines from his 
pen written nearly ten years before the 4th of July, 1776. 
DeKalb wrote : " All classes of people here are imbued with 
such a spirit of independence and freedom from control, that 
if all the provinces can be united under a common representa- 
tion, an independent state will soon be formed. At all 
events it will come forth in time. Whatever may be done in 
London this country is growing too powerful to be much lon- 
ger governed at so great a distance." An incident of 
DeKalb's journey from Philadelphia to New York, in Janu- 
ary 1768, must be related to illustrate his self-reliance and 
common sense. In those days the marvels of steam and 
electricity were not dreamed of. DeKalb's trip from 
Philadelphia to a point opposite Staten Island occupied four 
days. He there took a ferry boat between seven and eight 
o'clock at night to cross the Kill van Kull. The frail craft 
was driven by the wind and ice upon a little island and there 
sank, the passengers being obliged to save themselves by 
swimming and by wading through mud and ice. The island 
was without any inhabitants or shelter. Cries for help were 
unheard, and the unfortunate travelers, nine in number, were 
obliged to huddle together, exercise and keep watch in order 
to keep alive. Several died during the night. Relief did 
not come until morning. DeKalb then bathed his feet and 
legs in ice-cold water, took refreshments, went to bed and 
slept until evening. When the surgeon who had been sum- 
moned was told what he had done he refused to look at him, 
and declared that a man who had so maltreated himself must 
be lying dead in his bed. But DeKalb was the only one of 
the party who escaped without injury. 

Let us come, without delay, to the year in which DeKalb 

joined his fortunes to a cause in which he was destined 

to yield up his life. The commencement of hostilities be- 

-tween England and her American Colonies found DeKalb 

in the enjoyment of honor, wealth and the best prospect of 



11 

-continued success. It had been his good fortune to marry in 
1764 the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mens. Peter 
van Robais, a wealthy retired cloth manufacturer, who lived 
near Paris. One of his biographers thus writes of his married 
life : " In marked contrast to the dissolute manners of the 
time, DeKalb lived exclusively for his family, while his wife, 
in her turn, was no less devotedly attached to her husband 
than solicitous of the welfare of her children. The warmth 
of this attachment remained unaltered to the hour of DeKalb's 
death, and his last letters to his wife breathed the same fervor 
which had inspired the first and all the others." His wealth 
enabled him to live in luxury with his wife and three child- 
ren. He had reached the age of fifty-five years. His friends 
were among the best known and most influential leaders in 
France. But he determined to ofier his services to the new 
born nation that had thrown down the gauntlet to the most 
powerful in the world. Mr. Silas Deane, the American 
agent in France, gladly accepted DeKalb's offer, and wrote 
to his government : " Count DeBroglie, who commanded the 
army of France daring the last war, did me the honor to 
call on me twice yesterday with an officer who served as his 
quarter-master-general in that war and now has a regiment in 
this service, but being a German — the Baron DeKalb — and 
having traveled through America a few years since, he is de- 
sirous of engaging in the service of the United States of North 
America. I can by no means let slip an opportunity of 
engaging a person of so much experience, and who is by every 
one recommended as one of the bravest and most skillful 
officers in the kingdom." And with a just appreciation of 
DeKalb's motives he added : " This gentleman has an inde- 
pendent fortune and a certain prospect of advancement here, 
but being a zealous friend to liberty, civil and religious, he is 
actuated by the most independent and generous principles in 
the offer he makes of his services to the States of America." 
Mr. Deane engaged DeKalb as a major-general, his seniority 
to date from the 7th of November, 1776, and the formal con- 
tract was signed by both parties soon after, DeKalb signing 
for himself and fifteen companions, among whom were the 



12 

Yicount DeMauroy, major-general ; Dubnysson, afterward 
his aide and major, and VonHoltzendorif, a Prussian lieuten- 
ant-colonel. DeKalb then held a commission as a brigadier- 
general in the service of France. On the 7th of December, 
1776, a new agreement with Mr. Deane was concluded, and 
it bore the additional signature of Lafayette, then in his 
twentieth year. It is important to call attention to the rela- 
tions which existed between the veteran who had been so 
warmly welcomed by Mr. Deane and the young nobleman 
of whom it has been well said that "♦he was filled with 
youthful enthusiasm for America and a burning desire to 
flash his sword in a transatlantic crusade." Lafayette was a 
kinsman of the Count DeBroglie, DeKalb's warm friend, 
and was by him referred to DeKalb for counsel and protec- 
tion. It was indeed fortunate for the ultimate success of the 
American arms that DeKalb and Lafayette were sincere 
friends and were heartily in accord. DeKalb keenly appre- 
ciated the great importance of enlisting in the cause of 
American Independence the sympathies of the nobility of 
France, and he used, before leaving for America, every influ- 
ence to that end. Subsequent events showed how farseeing 
and astute he had been and how invaluable were his personal 
eflbrts. He introduced Lafayette to the American agent, 
and doubtless urged acceptance of his services. It is too much 
a matter of detail for me to recite the difiiculties which imme- 
diately beset those who longed to follow Washington. They 
were many, and arose from the remonstrances of Lord Stor- 
mond, the English prime minister, the prohibitory order of 
the French government, the necessity for secrecy in every 
movement and the open opposition of Lafayette's father-in- 
law. It was not until the 13th of June, 1777, that, after a 
voyage of forty-five days, DeKalb, Lafayette and their com- 
panions beheld from the deck of La Victoire the shore of 
South Carolina at Georgetown. After being hospitably en- 
tertained by Major Huger, they rode to Charleston and 
there began their preparations for their journey to Phila- 
delphia, setting out on the 27th of June. Owing to the 
excessive heat they did not reach Philadelphia until thirty 



13 

days had elapsed. En route they passed through Anna- 
polis. Doubtless DeKalb saw the spot where, in a few 
days, another lasting memorial, erected by a grateful nation 
to commemorate devoted valor and love of liberty, will be 
dedicated with imposing ceremonies, and thousands will hail, 
with a glad acclaim, the statue and the name of DeKalb. 

A reception of a character very different from that which 
they had a right to believe awaited them was given DeKalb, 
Lafayette and the foreign-born officers with them when they 
presented themselves, on the day after their arrival in Phil- 
adelphia, to the President of the American Congress. They 
were not welcomed, but were coldly received. Jealousy of 
foreigners as commanders was then rife in the American 
army and Congress. The claims of Coudray, a French offi- 
•cer, who had reached Philadelphia a few weeks previous to 
the coming of DeKalb, Lafayette and DeMauroy, founded on 
an agreement with Mr. Deane, to the rank of a major-general 
and the command of both the artillery and the engineers of 
the Continental army, had aroused much indignation, and so 
violent and nnreasoning had the feeling become that three 
American generals — Knox, Greene and Sullivan — had ten- 
dered their resignations on the mere rumor that Coudray's 
demands had been granted. Congress was much annoyed and 
embarrassed by the situation ; on the one hand was the open 
opposition to foreign officers — the more strongly evidenced by 
those American officers who were notoriously incompetent — 
and on the other the just claims of soldiers of experience and 
capacity. Thirteen foreign officers were entitled to appoint" 
ments, and three of them, DeKalb, Lafayette and DeMauroy, 
to the rank of major-generals. Congress finally refused to 
ratify the contracts made by Mr. Deane and declared that he 
had exceeded his powers. The dilemma was a most painful 
one to the noble spirits who had made such sacrifices for the 
cause of th» Colonies. Influenced by a desire to take advan- 
tage of the special influences which it believed would follow 
the appointment of Lafayette because of his great family 
connections and wealth, Congress, on the 31st of July, 1777, 
appointed him a major-general. That act, however viewed, 



14 

was almost an affront to DeKalb. But it only strengthened 
the friendship between DeKalb and his youthful protege. 
Lafayette, with proper delicacy, assured DeKalb that he 
would decline the proffered rank unless the same was given 
to him. In the generosity of his nature DeKalb declined 
Lafayette's proposal and advised him to accept the commis- 
sion. Lafayette sensibly followed DeKalb's excellent advice 
and soon after was slightly wounded in the battle of Brandy- 
wine. DeKalb could not but keenly feel the wrong which 
had been committed, and he was made of " sterner stuff" 
than to quietly submit. The day after Lafayette's appoint- 
ment he wrote to the President of Congress, strongly setting 
forth his claims and protesting against the injustice which 
had been done him. Be it remembered that DeKalb was the 
more valuable as an officer and the better able to assert and 
defend himself inasmuch as he spoke and wrote English with 
fluency and accuracy whereas all other ofiicers born in France 
or Germany, and then in America, could make themselves 
understood only with difficulty. In his letter of August 1,. 
1?77, to the President of Congress he wrote : " I was vastly 
surprised at my being introduced to Mr. Lowell to hear him 
(almost in public) exclaim loudly against Mr. Deane's pro- 
ceedings, and disapprove all the conventions that agent has 
made with several officers as contrary to his powers. To this 
I answer that a public man ought to know what powers he 
hath from his constituents or hath not ; that Mr. Deane is 
generally esteemed to be a candid man and a man of sense; 
that whatever he may have agreed to with others and this too 
in a language he did not understand, mine is in English and 
so very plain that it can admit of no various interpretations;" 
and he added : " As I have now fulfilled my part of that 
agreement, I wish Congress would do theirs, without loss of 
time, and let me hear of their resolution; I would not be 
a simple spectator in the scenes preparing for opening." 

In the same letter, referring to Lafayette, he wrote : " I 
am very glad that you granted his wishes ; he is a worthy 
young man and no one will outdo him in enthusiasm in your 
cause of liberty and independence. My wishes will always 



15 

be that his success as a major-general will equal his zeal and 
your expectations. But I must confess, sir, that this distinc- 
tion between him and myself is painful and very displeasing 
to me. We came on the same errand, with the same prom- 
ises,* and as military men and for military purposes. I flat- 
tered myself that if there was to be any preference it would be 
due to me. Thirty-four years of constant attendance on mil- 
itary service, and my station and rank in that way, may well 
be laid in the scale with his disinterestedness and be at least 
of the same weight and value !" With thoughtfulness of the 
eifect in France of such action in regard to himself and La- 
fayette he added : " It would seem very odd and ridiculous 
to the French minister and experienced military men to see 
me placed under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette." 
On the Sth of September Congress declared, by resolution, 
that the contracts made by Deane were not binding, and it 
returned its thanks to the gentlemen who had come, and 
oftered to pay their expenses to and from America. A 
week later DeKalb and his companions started for France. 
He journeyed by way of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in order 
to visit his Moravian countrj'men there, but a messenger from 
Congress overtook him and informed him that on the day 
of his departure from Philadelphia he had been elected a 
major-general. A new major-generalship had been created 
for him. His commission was dated October 4, 1777, but 
Congress ordered his seniority to date from the 31st of July, 
the date of Lafayette's commission, and even ofiered to ante- 
date his commission to the 7th of November, 1776. DeKalb 
was, however, satisfied to have his commission bear the same 
date as Lafayette's. I have been thus explicit in dealing 
with this period of DeKalb's life in order that his disposition, 
trials and sacrifices may be the better understood and appre- 
ciated. 

On joining the American army, then north of Philadel- 
phia and near Geruiantown, DeKalb was cordially received, 
and was assigned, early in November, 1777, to the command 
of a division formed of New England regiments. Let us 
now look at DeKalb as he was in appearance, manners and 



16 

habits when he wielded his sword for the liberties of the Col- 
onies, and we are fortunate in having a most interesting ac- 
count of him from the pen of Col, Nicholas Rogers, of this 
city, who served for a while as one of his aids. He wrote of 
him : " In size he was a perfect Ariovistus, being upwards of 
six feet, and fully equal to the fatigues of a soldier. He 
would often walk twenty or thirty miles a day without a 
sigh or complaint, and indeed often preferred that exercise to 
riding. His complexion and skin were remarkable, being as 
fair and fresh as those of a youth. Besides his extreme tem- 
perance, sobriety and prudence, with his great simplicity of 
manners which highly fitted him for his undertaking, he had 
also many of the other qualifications for a soldier such as 
patience, long-sufi'ering, strength of constitution, endurance 
of hunger and thirst, and a cheerful submission to every in- 
convenience in lodging, for I have known him repeatedly to 
arrange his portmanteau as a pillow, and, wrapping his great 
horseman's cloak around him, stretch himself before the fire 
and take as comfortable a nap as if upon a bed of eider-down." 
Col. Rogers also records that he was in the habit of rising 
before daylight and at once commencing his work, and that 
his favorite drink was — water. General Henry Lee, who is 
known as " Light Horse Harry," and was the father of the 
late General Robert E. Lee, wrote of him : " No man sur- 
passed him in simplicity and condescension which gave to 
his deportment a cast of amiability, extremely ingratiating, 
exciting confidence and esteem ;" and he added : " Such 
had been the temperance of his life, that he not only en- 
joyed to the last the finest health, but his countenance still 
retained the bloom of youth." He was prompt and method- 
ical, gave his personal attention to every detail, and perform- 
ed, with the most conscientious fidelity, every duty. He 
wrote almost daily to his wife and friends. 

I am admonished by the length of time already occupied 
of the impossibility of following his career in the American 
army or even of recalling his connection with the events 
and the men of that period. I must content myself with a 
cursory statement, and must avoid even the most interesting 



17 

details. But let me express the hope that you will seek in 
tl>e pages of history, and especially in his numerous letters to 
his wife and the Due DeBroglie, the essential facts of his life 
and of the times which I must deny myself the pleasure of 
relating. 

On the 30th of December, 1777,DcKalb was made Inspec- 
tor-General of the army. He shared the hardships of the 
winter at Valley Forge. He commanded the centre of the 
army in the grand manoeuvre made in celebrating the con- 
clusion in 1778 of the alliance between France and the United 
States. He was continually kept in important positions in the 
field and rendered most valuable services. There is ever}' rea- 
son to believe that he approved himself and was regarded as 
one of the ablest commanders. In 1779 he was assigned to 
the command of one regiment from Delaware and seven from 
Maryland. It was divided into two brigades which were com- 
manded by Gens. Smallvvood and Gist, both of Maryland. 
A military critic of the Revolutionary war gives this just 
praise to the Maryland and Delaware patriots : " One fact 
in the struggle for American Independence should have spe- 
cific notice. From 1776, before Boston and through the entire 
war the States of Maryland and Delaware were represented 
on nearly every battlefield. Although their troops were few 
in numbers they were distinguished for valor, so that their 
failure in an emergency was a sign of great peril or of some 
over-mastering superiority or panic." 

We will now go with DeKalb to his last battle field. The 
order of the 3d of April, 1780, directing DeKalb to march to 
the relief of Gen. Lincoln, then besieged by Gen. Clinton, 
at Charleston, S. C, showed the confidence of Washington 
in him and his troops. When it was issued DeKalb, having 
relieved Gen. St. Clair, was performing with a corps the very 
difficult task of guarding and defending Washington's head- 
quarters at Morristown, protecting the country bordering on 
the British line, ascertaining and reporting the strength and 
movements of the enemy along the coasts of New Jersey and 
Staten Island, and securing, in the advance with an inade- 
quate force, the safety of the American army. It had required 



18 

the utmost vigilance and had subjected him and his officers 
and men to great hardships. Charleston had fallen and the 
victorious regulars of King George were free to make battle 
in the interior and to reduce the Carolinas to submission. 
Gen. Lincoln was a prisoner, and Gen. Horatio Gates, who had 
won a great reputation with Congress and the masses by the 
capture, in October, 1777, of Gen. Burgoyne and his whole 
army, was appointed by Congress commander-in-chief of the 
Southern army. General Gates was dictatorial, haughty, con- 
ceited and incompetent. In his own opinion he was superior 
to Washington in generalship, and he had actually intrigued 
for the command of the American army. He was on his farm 
in Virginia when intelligence of his appointment reached him. 
" Take care," said an old friend, Gen. Charles Lee, " lest your 
Northern laurels turn to Southern willows." The words were 
prophetic. Gen. Gates reached his army on the 25th of J uly, 
and to the amazement of DeKalb, who he had succeeded, and 
of his troops, he issued the next day, to what he called his 
" Grand Army," orders to march on Camden, a town in South 
Carolina. He thereby betrayed total ignorance of his sur- 
roundings and of the condition of his troops who had been 
but one day under his command. Gen. Henry Lee thus 
criticises him : " Calculating proudly on the weight of his 
name, he appears to have slighted the prerequisites to victory, 
and to have hurried on to the field of battle with the impet- 
uosity of youth ; a memorable instance of the certain de- 
struction which awaits the soldier who does not know how to 
estimate prosperity." In vain did DeKalb and the leading 
officers set out in writing the dangers which would inevita- 
bly surround him, the necessity for at least a brief delay, and 
the advantages of marching towards Salisbury, North Caro- 
lina. Gates promised to consult with his best officers at 
noon of the first day's march but never did. Ignorant of 
the position and movements of his enemy, and supposing that 
he would be opposed by Lord Rawdon alone when in fact 
Lord Cornwallis, alarmed at Gates's audacity, had hurried 
from Charleston to Lord Rawdon's support, and despite the 
fact that his total force was nominally only three thousand 



19 

and fifty-two men, of whom about fourteen hundred were 
good troops and well officered, while the remainder were raw 
militia hastily collected from Virginia and North Carolina, 
who did not know how to use the bayonets they had only just 
received and many of whom had never been under fire, 
Gates, on the 15th of August, ordered his army "to march 
promptly at ten o'clock that night." Lord Cornwallis was a 
capable commander who had served under the Duke of 
Brunswick in the Seven Year's war, and he commanded over 
two thousand men, a majority being the best troops in the 
British army. He, too, had determined to make a night at- 
tack, and he set out, at the same hour as did Gates, for Cler- 
mont, where Gates had arrived, about twelve or thirteen 
miles from Camden. About two o'clock on the morning of 
the 16th of August, the British and Americans met, and after 
some sharp fighting with the advantage to the British, both 
sides, as if by common consent, suspended hostilities until 
daybreak. Gen. Gates then learned for the first time, from 
prisoners, that Cornwallis was himself in command, and that 
his army was within five or six hundred yards of his front. 
He called a council of war, and when DeKalb was invited to 
it and told of what had been ascertained, he immediately in- 
quired : " Well, did not the Commanding General immediate- 
ly order a retreat ?" thus indicating his opinion. But it does 
not appear that DeKalb at the conference which was thereupon 
held without delay, and at which the unwelcome news of 
Lord Cornwallis's presence was communicated to the generals 
and the regimental commanders, opposed the impetuous Gen. 
Stevens, who, when he saw that no one, not even the Com- 
manding General, had 'any proposition to submit, exclaimed: 
" We must fight, gentlemen ; it is not yet too late; we can do 
nothing else; we must fight!" Lord Cornwallis kept his 
ground and his flanks were well protected by impassable 
marshes. The American line was formed with the Virginia 
militia on the left under Gen. Stevens ; the North Carolina 
militia in the centre under Gen. Caswell ; and the right wing, 
consisting of the Second Maryland Brigade and the Delaware 
Regiment under Gen. Gist, commanded by DeKalb. The 



20 

First Maryland Brigade, under Gen. Smallwood, occupied the 
second line as a reserve. Two pieces of artillery were placed 
on Gist's right flank, and two on the right and one on the left 
of Caswell's command. The Americans were practically 
without cavalry, Armand's mounted legion of sixty men hav- 
ing fled at the first attack during the night. Gen. Gates took 
his position about six hundred yards in the rear to overlook 
the struggle. At dawn the battle opened. The British 
regulars under Lt. Col. Webster advanced with closed ranks 
and impetuously upon the Virginia militia, and, panic strick- 
en, they fled almost without firing, despite prayers, entreaties, 
appeals and threats. The panic soon involved the North Car- 
olinians, and, excepting four hundred of Dixon's regiment, 
who fired several times, they too abandoned the field. Gen. 
Gates, in his report, calls the militia " a torrent," and he was 
a part of it, for he slept that night in Charlotte, sixty miles 
from the battle-field, and four days later he was at Hills- 
borough, one hundred and eighty miles from Camden, with- 
out so much as an escort. While disaster and dishonor held 
sway on the left and in the centre, DeKalb and the men of 
Maryland and Delaware were performing feats of bravery. 
DeKalb ordered Smallwood's brigade to form a junction with 
Gist's, and did all that was possible to retrieve the fortunes of 
the day. Inspiring officers and men with his own dauntless 
spirit, he not only successfully resisted the furious onslaught 
of Lord Rawdon on his right, but drove the enemy with the 
bayonet and took prisoners. But in the meantime Small- 
wood's brigade had been outflanked, overpowered and forced 
back. It soon rallied and renewed the fight there, but with- 
out avail. DeKalb fought at the head of Gist's Marylandera 
and the Delaware regiment. He advanced three times, and 
maintained his ground before superior numbers. A sabre cut 
laid open his scalp, and his horse was shot under him. Ja- 
quette, the Adjutant of the Delaware regiment, hastily band- 
aged the wound with his scarf, and besought DeKalb to retire. 
But the lion-hearted warrior heeded him not, and on foot led 
his brave Marylanders to the charge. Every foot of ground 
was contested, and DeKalb and his men performed prodigies 



21 

of valor as they fouf^ht hand to hand with the British. Corn- 
wallis now concentrated all his force on DeKalb's weakened 
and wavering ranks, and Tarleton's irresistible troopers fell 
upon his tianks. Then the day was lost. But again did 
DeKalb, heading a handful of the bravest of the brave, rush 
upon the foe, waving his sword and calling on his men to 
follow. Several balls pierced his body, and blood streamed 
from his wounds. Still he had strength to cut down a 
Britisher who had a bayonet at his breast. The enemy now 
recognized him by his epaulets and pressed upon him, crying : 
" The rebel General ! The rebel General !" Bleeding from 
eleven wounds he fell upon the field of battle. His ever 
faithful aid, Dubuysson, imploring the British to " save and 
spare the Baron DeKalb," and protecting him as best he 
could, received in his own body the thrusts intended for his 
chief. The British soldiers raised DeKalb to his feet and 
stripped him to his blood-dyed shirt. Cornwallis, happening 
to ride past, inquired who he was, and when told he said : " I 
regret to see you so badly wounded, but I am glad to have 
defeated you." He then ordered that the wounds of his dis- 
tinguished prisoner be dressed and that proper attention be 
shown him. DeKalb was thereafter treated with marked 
kindness and humanity. 

In all the annals of our country there is no story of battle 
more replete with pathos and inspiration than the one which 
I have, in the simplest words, recited to you. It has its dark 
side, but it tells also of all that honor could demand and self- 
sacrifice could avail; and when DeKalb fell on the fatal and 
bloody field of Camden he presented to the world a spec- 
tacle such as had not been witnessed since Leonidas, obedi- 
ent to the laws of the Lacedemonians, died at Thermopylie, 
and "Winkelried, receiving in his breast the spears of his 
country's invaders, made waj for liberty. Foreign-born, 
leaving all behind him, having much, very much, to make 
life dear to him, with other fields of honor and success 
open to him, in the maturity of his mental and physical pow- 
ers, and worthy of higher command than had been given him, 
he was true and steadfast unto death. When we hear, as 



22 

sometimes we may from the lips of those who know not the 
whole truth of history, the opprobious w^ord " Hessian," we 
may well point to Camden and pronounce the blessed name 
of DeKalb. We may add, too, the honored name of Von- 
Steuben. 

Let us return to him .who was the luminous figure where 
all was lost save honor. The strong man, though in his six- 
tieth year and bearing in his body so many grievous wounds, 
bore up against death for three days. Dubuysson was with 
him to the last, and British officers helped to soothe him. 
What thoughts of his wife and children must have come to 
him ere his eyes closed forever! What distress of mind 
must have been added to bodily pains ! But the dying hero 
met the last enemy as well became him. His mind turned 
to the battle-field and the brave men who had fought with 
him. Dubuysson wrote to Gens. Gist and Smallwood : " It 
is with particular pleasure I obey the Baron's last commands 
in presenting his most aftectionate compliments to all the ofii- 
cers and men of his division. He expressed the greatest sat- 
isfaction in the testimony given by the British army of the 
bravery of his troops, and he was charmed with the firm op- 
position they made to superior force when abandoned by the 
rest of the army." The British ofiicers buried DeKalb with 
military and masonic honors. Gen. Gates wrote to Washing- 
ton : " Too much honor cannot be paid by Congress to the 
memory of the Baron DeKalb ; he was everything an excel- 
lent otficer should be, and in the cause of the United States 
has sacrificed his life." Gen. Gates also, by letter, urged 
Congress to declare to the world its high estimate of his ser- 
vices and sacrifices. Washington was also sensible of what 
was due to DeKalb, and declared that he had fully justified 
his high opinion of him, and that his memory must ever be 
precious to all Americans. On the 14th of October, 1780, 
Congress passed a resolution directing that a monument be 
erected at Annapolis to his memory, and that it bear this in- 
scription : " Sacred to the memory of the Baron DeKalb, 
Knight of the Royal Order of Military Merit, Brigadier of 
the Armies of France, and Major-General in the service of thq 



23 

United States of America. Having; served with lionor and 
reputation for three vears, he gave at hvst a glorious proof of 
his attachment to the liberties of mankind and the cause of 
America, in the action near Camden, in the State of South 
Carolina, on the 16th of August, 1780, where, leading on the 
troops of the Maryland and Delaware lines against superior 
numbers and animating them by his deeds of valor, he was 
pierced with many wounds, and on the I'Jth following expired 
in the 48tli year of his age. The Congress of the United 
States of America, in gratitude to his zeal, services and merit, 
have erected this monument." At the time of the passage of 
the resolution, it was supposed, owing to DeKalb's compara- 
tively youthful appearance, that he was in his -ISth year, 
whereas he was in his 60th year. The monument was not 
erected; the nation was still struggling for existence ; peace 
found its treasury empty ; and subsequently that lack of ar- 
dent, active interest which causes so many good works to be 
deferred, operated to postpone to this month the payment by 
the nation of the debt it owes to DeKalb's memory. But he 
was not forgotten, and our immortal Washington, standing 
in the spring of 1791 by the little turf-clad mound that 
rose above his grave, said: " So here lies the brave DeKalb, 
the generous stranger who came from a distant land to 
fitjht our battles and to water with his blood the tree of 
our liberty. Would to God he had lived to share with 
us its fruits !" And to the citizens of Camden he said : 
" Your grateful remembrance of that excellent friend and 
gallant officer, the Baron DeKalb, does honor to the goodness 
of your hearts. With your regrets I mingle mine for his loss, 
and to your praises I join the tribute of my esteem for his 
memory." Still his resting place remained unmarked, save 
by a single tree, until 1825, when his admirers in Camden and 
throughout the State which has the boner to preserve and 
cherish his ashes erected a suitable monument to mark the 
hallowed spot and tell of his virtues and heroism. Lafayette, 
bent with years, reverently laid the corner-stone, and said : 
" His able conduct, undaunted valor and glorious fall in the 
battle of Camden form one of the remarkable traits of our 



24 

struggle for independence and freedom. He was cordially 
devoted to our American cause, and while his public and pri 
vate qualities have endeared him to his contemporaries, here 
I remain to pay to his merits, at this tomb, the tribute of an 
admiring witness, of an intimate companion, and of a mourn- 
ing friend." 

At last the American people stand ready to demonstrate, 
in the capital of our State, that they are not ungrateful to 
the Baron DeKalb. The skillful hands of a Baltimore-born 
sculptor, who we welcome here, have well perpetuated in 
bronze the hero as he led the sons of Maryland and Dela- 
ware in his last battle; the nation will, by its final action and 
through its representatives, testify its faithful and dutiful 
memories of him ; and Maryland, represented then, as we 
recognize, with much pleasure, that she is among us, by her 
worthy Governor, and remembering him with special pride 
and affection, will add a full share to his memorial honors. 

Another shrine has been reared upon American soil! 
There Liberty may worship. Patriotism rekindle its fires, 
and Freedom offer prayers and benedictions! Let it stand 
forever, inspiringly typical of a hero's sacrifice ! Let it make 
its silent but eloquent appeal to the homage of every citizen 
of the Republic! Let it tell of the storied past, enrich the 
present, and sentinel the future ! And let patriots every- 
where rejoice that, although all that was mortal of DeKalb 
long since mouldered into dust and ' his good sword is rust,' 
he lives in the hearts of a free, happy and grateful people, 
and that for him the years to come contain 

The thanks of millions yet to be. 



maron l>e Stalb. + 1781. 

( (i^ebic^tet Don 3 t) a n 11 2 t r a u b c ii m (i 1 1 e r.) 

SBaron be Salb, ein SJaiicr, 

edjlagfertig immerbav, 
i*eilic6 bte gtirflciibieiifle 

Unb trat jur i'urgetfdiaar. 

Om SDaffeiijpiel eriabien, 

@eiub[)nt nn iJ^ulDerbQmpt, 
2rat er mit ganjev Seele 

3n ben aefieiiuiqSfninpf. 

21IS JJiember ^iei umgeben 

SJon (5iferfu(fet unb yjeib, 
@ing er luie ber Sportaner 

VeonibaS in Streit. 

$f[b 2Saif)ington jiu®eite 
3tnnb er in mandjer Sd)Iad)t, 

iBiS 5ialb jule^t im Siiben 
eitag ber yUebertvndJt. 

3n Stib-Sarolina's ®Quen, 
fflo's iriift nod) mar unb leer, 

3)n iagten fid) bie IMauen 
Unb 8iotl)cn ()in unb t)er. 

a5ie ?)Qnfec=jLruppen ijatttv 
Diidt aiabrung, slcibung, 2olb, 

Uno aud) ber ®ott ber gdjladjtcn 
Sdjien if)nen nid)t me^r f)olb. 

@ateS modjie einen Scftlag t[)un, 

jDod) tDox ble I'age fd.Ied)t, 
er jog trotj slBiberiprudjes 

syei Samben in'S Oefeajt. 

IBeil iialb i^m als gtratcgc 

aJliO.'Qtljen feinen '^Jlan, 
2)rumnit er if)n q(s ^iBerrattjer- 

Unb -ieigen 3remb(ing" an. 

„3 d) f iege oa er fall e I" 

antmortet 5ta[b doU aJ2ut^, 
Unb bran finb ieine Iruppen, 

S>a§ ^j;2art)ianber :;i5Iut. 



S)ie Siiten finb im SSort^eil 

Unb fdjlagcn tapfcr loS, 
a)a Wixb balb bic 35er)t>inung, 

2)er ©djtecfen tie'engrofi. 

©(^on >Tjeid)tbie linfe gianfe, 

SJirflinien (netft aus, 
5Co(l) unei(d)iittett ftelje" 

Malb'S Sruppenin bem Straug. 

2)e Sntb ttifft eine Sugel, 
(5r titeft eom 3?lute rotft, 

3)0(1) reitet er nod) DoriDdits 
Unb corrodxts bi§ in Zob. 

Bait blutet QUS eilf asunben, 
S)Qnn fintt er «ft oom 8to6. 

Unb nut tt)m, fdjWer getroffen, 
jDe 2?uiffon, fein @eno|;. 

2)e tQlb mirb nun gefangen, 

St ftiibt im Sritenjelt, 
!©od) trdumte con golb'ner ^-teiljeit 

9?od) fterbenb unjer S^dD. 

%us \xt\em Siirgerblute 
©iebt er erfteb'n ein Steid), 

S)em feincS ouj be: (Stbe 
3n @(anj unb gteitjeit gleic^. 

3)er IiQum ip njo^r gertoiben I 

Unb tjeute mirb cnttitiat 
Itafii £)unbert unb {fit f ;3Qf)ien 

3)eS eblen .fietben 23ilbl 

D, blelbe unoergcffen, 

2)u Opfet iener 3e't» 
Unb ttecf' nod) mand)en ©elben 

i)er Unabpngigteit: 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



011 801 084 n 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 801 084 A 



